Vending machine



June 27, 1944. c. LCASEY VENDING MACHINE Original Filed April 25, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 fl-206i? 0r Z655 Case" June 27,. 1944. C, L', CASEY I VENDING MACHINE Original Filed April 25, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented June 27, 1944 VENDING MACHINE Charles L. Casey,` Chicago, Ill.

Original application April 25, 1942, Serial No.' 440,481. Divided and this application April 26, 1943, Serial No. 484,571

6 Claims. (C1. 31a- 64) This application is a division of original application, Serial Number 440,481, led Apr. 25, 1942, now Patent 2,339,681 issued Jan. 18, 1944.

The present invention relates to improvements in vending machines of the type -wherein there is embodied means for vending or dispensing an article or commodity upon the deposit of a proper coin or token thereinto, and one of the objects of the invention is to vprovide an improved machine Which embodies a swingingly mounted article container with which is associated a pivoted ejector, the latter operating, when the container is swung in one direction about its pivot, to eject an article therefrom' to be delivered to the operator.

Heretofore, with machines'of this general character, considerable diiculty has been experienced,

in that it has been possible to extract or remove articles from the machine without depositing the necessary coin or token to actuate the same, by the insertion of a Wire or other instrument into the machine through the article delivery or discharge outlet opening, especially after one article has been delivered and While the article holder is being held in one of its positions.

It is one of the objects of the present invention to provide in a. machine of this character, improved means for overcoming such objection, and to render it impossible to remove the articles intact, except by the proper operation of the machine through the medium of the insertion of a proper coin or token to actuate the coin controlled mechanism.

A further object is to provide in a machine of this character, improved means `for causing the 'article which is being vended or delivered from the machine, to operate as a guard or means to prevent the unauthorized removal of any of the articles, which firstmeans also serves to cause the article to be turned over as it is traveling to the delivery opening.

To the attainment of these ends and the accomplishment of other new and useful objects as llili the machine, showing the position which the article container will assume when one of the articles is partially delivered therefrom. n

Fig. 3v is a view similar to Fig, 2, showing the parts in another position, that is, the position which the container will assume just before the delivered article drops after` having been ejected from the container.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the machine consists, essentially, of a casing I0 of any desired size and configuration, and constructed of any suitable material', and whichis provided with a closure II "swingingly mounted upon a pivot I2 "and secured in a locked position by means of a fastening` device I3.v The casing is provided with a delivery opening I4 through which the article is discharged to the operator.

Within the casing there is mounted an article container or holder I5 which may be of any devsired vor .suitable construction, and is provided with an open front and walls I6 extending partially over the open front, the Walls I6 terminatving4 short of thebottom I'I of the container and preferably being deflected slightly in a forward direction, as at I8. The bottom I 'I terminates short of the front Walls to provide a space I9 through which the articles will be delivered.` The back wall 20 of the container maybe formed in any suitable manner, preferably by end strips which terminate short of each other and which may be connected by cro'ssbars 2| to form a frame-like structure.'

The container .thus formed is mounted to swing about pivots 22, and 'within the container is `a weight 23 which is disposed upon'the superposed articles 24, tohold them in position and to cause 'them to descend in the container asthelowermost vpivotall'y supported, asat 2E, and preferably is provided with an uprightfront edge 21 that engages and rests upon the bottom I'I of the coritainer, projectable into the container when the latter is swung about its" pivot through the open back thereof.

A chute 28 is provided in the'casing I0, lthe discharge end of which communicateswith the delivery opening lll-in the casing. The wall'29 of the chute is preferably curved; and the front wall of the chute is preferably formed by means of a projection 30 extending into the chute. This projection 30 is shaped to form a support or ledge 3l adjacent lthe top thereof 'and preferably located in a plane slightly below the plane ofthe bottom I1 of the container.. This projection 30 its pivot 22 in any suitable manner, preferably in the manner disclosed in my aforesaid applica-y tion, such, for instance, as by means of an arm i 32 having a slot 33, into which slot a pin or projection 34 carried by the container, extends. This arm is mounted to rotate about a pivot 35 upon rotation of a suitable coin carrier elementv to which the arm 32 is connected. The specific construction of the arm actuating means forms no part of the present invention. Sufce it to say, however, that when the arm 32 is moved in 'one 'direction from theposition shown in Fig. l,

the container will be. swungto the position shown in Figs. 2 and 3, and when the arm is moved in the vopposite direction, thecontainer will be swung 'back to its normal position,

'- In operation, and when the container l5 is moved from the position shown in Fig, A1 to the positionshown in Fig. 2, the edge 21 of the ejec- 'tor 25 will move across the bottom l1 c-f the container, and the lowermost article will be ejected and will assume the position shown in Fig. 2

'before the container is swung to its rearmost posit-ion. lIhat is to say, the forward edge of the varticle -24 will engage and rest upon the ledge 3iof the projection or front wall 3l! of the chute 28. During this movement of the container, the bottom of the ejector 25 will pass under the remaining articles l2li in the container, to support them and to relieve the lowermost article 24 of the weight thereof, so that when the container reaches, the position shown in Fig. 3, the ejected -article 24 will be free to drop from the full-line position to the dotted-line position A, at which time the article will slide over the projection or 'wall Zwuntil Ithe forward Yend B of the article strikes the wall' 29 of the chute. The article will then'travel down the chute' to the delivery or discharge outlet opening I4. As soon as the article falls from the `position shown in full line in Fig.

=3 to the first dotted-line position A, it will begin to turn, and by the time it reaches the second dotted-line position C in Fig. 3, it will have been completely inverted before it reaches the delivery outlet openingwl4. :designates the lower face of the article as it is In Fig. 3, the numeral 36 rejected from the container, and it will be noted that as the article travels through the chute, it

,will be completely turned over.

With this improved construction it will be noted that, in Fig. Lithe bottom I1 of the container `forms, as heretofore indicated, a guard or shield l`for the entrance end of the delivery chute, and 'if .the projection or extension 30, together with the ledge 3l, should be omitted, they article will immediately drop through the chute to the deliverycpening i4', and while the container was being held in either the position shown in Fig. 2 'orthe position shown in Fig. 3, it would be possible, by the insertion of al wire or implement linto the machine through the delivery opening -l4,-tolremove additional articles from the container without., depositing a further coin Hin the coinmechanism. l However,r with this projection 30, .until the machine isY operated, the bottom I1 prevents such insertion of an implement, and while the container is in the position shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the article 24 which is being ejected will extend across the inlet opening to the chute and will, itself, form a guard or shield to prevent the unauthorized removal ofthe articles from the container in the manner as aforesaid.

The numeral 60 designates a portion of an opening or chute through which a coin or check may be delivered back to the operator from any suitable coin-controlling mechanism which controls the operation of the machine,

If desired, a portion of the structure forming the back Wall 2B, at the sides of the article container, may be deflected forwardly, as at 3l, which operates to force the lowermost article forwardly in the container, as shown more clearly in Fig. l. These forwardly deflected portions are spaced from each other for a substantial distance and to an extent greater than the width of the ejector 25-21. The articles 24 are of a width greater than the space between the portions 31, so that the latter engage the articles only adjacent their ends, and when the container is moved rearwardly, the deflected portions will span the ejector 25-21 and the ejector will engage the edge of the lowermost article 2t,A as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, and eject it'.

While the preferred form of the invention has been herein shown and described, it is to be understood that various changes may be made in the details of construction and in the' combination and arrangement of the several parts, within the scope of the claims, without departing from the spirit of this invention.

What is claimed as new is:

l. In a vending machine, a casing having a discharge chute provided with a delivery outlet for the articles, an article holder shiftably mountcd in the casing and provided with a supporting base and outlet for the articles, a pivoted ejector movable over said base to eject the article from the holder, when said holder is moved in one direction, and a projection forming one wall of and extending into said chute, said projection being positioned to be engaged by one edge of the article that is being delivered from the said holder, to temporarily support said edge of the article in a position that the article vand base will extend across and form a closure for the chute, and subsequently, when the article is entirely delivered from the holder, cause the article to beturned over as it falls through the chute.

2. In a vending machine, a casing .having a discharge chute provided with a delivery outlet for the articles, an article holder shiftably mounted-in the casing and provided with asupporting base and outlet for the articles, a pivoted ejector movable over said base to. eject the varticle from the holder, when said holder is moved in one direction, and a projection forming one Wall of and extending into said chute, said projection being positioned to be `engaged byoneyedge of the article that is being delivered from the said holder, to temporarily support said edge of the article in a position'that the article and base will extend across andv form a closure for the chute, and subsequently, when the article is entirely delivered from the holder, cause the article to be turned over as it falls through the chute, said base co-operating with saidprojection, after the delivery of an article and return of the holder to normal position, to form a barrier against the engagement of the articles by an implement inserted into the chute through the delivery end thereof.

3. In a vending machine, a casing having a discharge chute provided with a delivery outlet for the articles, an article holder shiftably mounted in the casing and provided with a supporting base and outlet for the articles, a pivoted ejector movable over said base to eject the article from the holder, when said holder is moved in one direction, and a shoulder projecting into and forming one Wall of said chute, said projection being positioned to be engaged by one edge of the article that is being delivered from the said holder, to temporarily support said edge of the article in a position that the article and base Will extend across and form a closure for the chute, and subsequently, when the article is entirely delivered from the holder, cause the article to be turned over as it falls through the chute.

4. In a vending machine, a casing having a discharge chute provided with a delivery outlet for the articles, an article holder shiftably mounted in the casing and provided with an article supporting base and outlet, a pivoted ejector movable over said base to eject an article when the holder is moved in one direction, means for thus moving the holder, and a supporting ledge projecting into the chute adjacent the entrance end thereof and disposed in a position with respect to the plane of movement of the said base that as the article is ejected from said holder one edge of the article will engage and rest upon said ledge While the remaining portion of the article is supported by said base during the movement of said holder, whereby the article will be temporarily supported in a position to form with the base a closure for the chute.

5. In a vending machine, a casing having a discharge chute provided With a delivery outlet for the articles, an article holder shiftably mounted in the casing and provided vwith an article supporting base and outlet, a pivoted ejector movable over said base to eject an article when the holder is moved in one direction, means for thus moving the holder, and a supporting ledge projecting into the chute adjacent the entrance end thereof and disposed in a position with respect to the plane of movement of the said base that as the article is ejected from said holder one edge of the article will engage and rest upon said ledge while the remaining portion of the article is supported by said base during the movement of said holder, whereby the article will be temporarily supported in a position to form with the base a closure for the chute, said projection operating to turn the article over when it is delivered from said lholder and as it travels through the chute.

6. In a vending machine, a casing having a discharge chute provided with a delivery outlet for the articles, an article holder shiftably mounted .in the casing and provided with an article supporting base and outlet, a` pivoted ejector movable over said base to eject an article when the holder is moved in one direction, means for thus moving the holder, and a supporting ledge projecting into the chute adjacent the entrance end thereof and disposed in a poposition to form with the base a closure for the chute, the adjacent edge of said base projecting over the proximate edge of said ledge when the article holder is in a normal position in the casing, to provide a closure for said chute.

CHARLES L. CASEY. 

